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research note
Stephen Blumenfeld
Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand
Abstract: The main objectives of this study were to identify facilitators and
barriers to unionization among employees as well as to identify the effect of
unionization and collective bargaining on employers and employees perceptions
of workplace relations. To address these objectives survey data from just under
4000 employees and employers in over 150 New Zealand organizations was
collected. The findings of this study suggest that union membership is related to
employees perceptions of job security, ideology and job satisfaction. Employees
perceptions of workplace relations were associated with union membership
status. Employers perceptions of the contribution that unions make to their
businesses were associated with the type of interaction employers had with trade
unions. Implications for employees, employers, legislators and policy makers are
discussed.
Keywords: collective agreement; perceptions; unions
Contact address: Boaz Shulruf, Centre for Medical and Health Sciences Education
(CMHSE), Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, University of Auckland, Private
Bag 92019, Auckland, New Zealand. [email: b.shulruf@auckland.ac.nz]
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Methods
The data for this study was derived from a survey of employers and employees
located in three major regions in NZ (Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch)
and covered private and public sector enterprises within some major industries
(Manufacturing, Wholesale Trade, Retail Trade, Financial and Insurance,
Education, and Health and Community Services).
The employee questionnaire asked about union membership and reasons for
joining a union or not, as well as perceived benefit of collective agreements and
employees attitudes towards their employer. The employers questionnaire
asked about business demographics, relationship with unions, and union contributions to business performance and employment relations. Employers were
invited to participate in the survey. If they agreed, a sample of their employees
was invited to participate.
Results
The survey included 156 enterprises and 3930 employees, 2083 (53 percent)
of which were organized. Women comprised 57.1 percent of the sample and
average age was 43.3 years. Ethnic distribution was similar to national composition and the mean weekly working hours was 39.2.
The most common reason for joining a union was the belief that the union
would provide support in work conflicts (35.4 percent), followed by ideological
support in unions (21.3 percent), and a desire for job security (20.9 percent).
The primary reason for not joining a union was high satisfaction with their
job (34.739 percent). Little knowledge of union presence at the workplace,
the belief that own employment was not covered by collective agreement and
dissatisfaction with union performance at the workplace were more frequent
reasons for not joining unions among employees who had never been union
members before (p < .05).
Non-unionized employees expressed greater loyalty to their employers and
believed they had better employment relations with their employers than unionized employees (3.96 vs 3.52 p < .0001 and 5.24 vs 4.85 p < .001 respectively on
scale 16). Loyalty to an employer decreased as a unionized employees income
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Discussion
The results, which are in line with the literature, suggest that the key factors
determining whether or not employees become union members are the presence of unions in the workplace and the employees belief that workers need
strong unions to protect work conditions and wages (Bryson, 2006; Charlwood
and Haynes, 2008; Gill, 2005; Haynes et al., 2006; Jelle, 2002; Waddington
and Whitston, 1997). These findings suggest that regardless of the protections
provided by the Act, some still seek further support by joining unions.
Previous NZ literature suggests that the presence of unions at workplaces
is associated with motivation to join unions (Charlwood and Haynes, 2008;
Table 1 Employers perceptions about trade unions
Factor
1
.855
.308
.817 .096
.789
.788 .299
Q114 Cost of negot coll agreem lower than cost of ind agreem
.626
.135
.597
.026
.267
.535 .042
.201
.328
.202
.308
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.018 .080
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